Sampoerna opens new plant in Sragen

Sampoerna opens new plant in Sragen

The country's second largest cigarette maker PT Hanjaya Mandala
Sampoerna inaugurated the operation of PT Aroma Sukowati in
Sragen, Central Java, as its 27th partner in producing kretek
(hand-rolled clove cigarettes).

Company President Director Martin G. King officiated the
9,625-square-meter factory by hand-rolling
cigarettes during a ceremony on Saturday.

"The aim of opening the plant is to create jobs for the locals
and to get close to tobacco farmers in this area," Sampoerna's
Director Angky Camaro told the press.

Employing some 1,700 workers, mostly women, the plant will
produce Sampoerna Hijau kretek cigarettes with a production
capacity of 11 million cigarettes per week.

Angky was optimistic that kretek cigarettes would still
dominate the country's market as it currently accounts for 92
percent of the market.

U.S.-based Philip Morris International Inc. acquired Sampoerna
in March in a Rp 48 trillion deal.

Sampoerna had a 25-year build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme
with Aroma for the plant. Both Angky and Aroma's president
director Sri Yatin refused to give the investment figure.

The cigarette-maker collaborates with 26 other smaller
factories -- owned by individuals, cooperatives or Islamic
boarding schools -- in East Java, Central Java and Yogyakarta.

-- The Jakarta Post/Blontank Poer